Thursday, January 17, 2008

Before I tell you all about this bread, I would like to introduce Catherine, from the food blog Munchie Musings – she’s my new blog buddy and we were introduced to each other by the lovely Kristen and her Adopt a Blogger campaign.I invite you all to visit Catherine’s blog and I would also like to thank Kristen for such a nice initiative!

I made this braided bread months ago but was not sure if I should post it or not – the bread was huge and I couldn’t get good photos of it. Besides that, the bread was very tender and tasted great, but the flavor of sweetened condensed milk was nowhere near it.When I read at Nora’s blog that the lovely Eva was hosting Baking Day #06, I changed my mind: I love the shape of this bread and also the effect the poppy seeds give to it.

I got the recipe from Carlota’s website – Carla Pernambuco’s restaurant. I had dinner there on my birthday last year and absolutely loved it. I’m a great fan of her work and this is the second time I make one of her recipes – the first was the wonderful guava soufflé with catupiry sauce.

I prepared the bread a bit differently than it was on the website because I thought the instructions weren’t clear enough; there are eggs on the ingredient list but no mention of them on the making. I used my Kitchen Aid to make the dough but it’s not mandatory: you can blend the liquid ingredients+butter+salt and then add the flour using a wooden spoon (like the original recipe suggests).

Place the yeast and the water in the bowl of a stand mixer; mix well to dissolve the yeast.Add the sweetened condensed milk, salt and butter and, using the paddle attachment, beat well. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Switch to the hook attachment and, beating in slow speed, add the flour, gradually. Once you added all the flour, beat until you get a smooth dough. Cover with cling film or plastic wrap and set aside - let the dough rise until almost doubled in volume, about 1 hour.Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface. Knead a few time and form a ball; divide dough in 4 equal parts and make 40cm (15in) ropes with each part. Place the ropes on a very large greased baking sheet (mine was 40x26cm) and braid them. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise for 1 hour.Preheat the oven to 160ºC/320ºF; beat the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water and brush the bread with it. Sprinkle the poppy seeds over the bread and bake for 30-40 minutes or until beautifully golden and cooked through – if it starts browning too fast, cover it loosely with foil.

Patricia, surely you are being too hard on yourself! That bread looks awesome! (second pic is a little blue, though :)If it's not close enough to the decadent taste of condensed milk, you can always do as we do and use condensed milk as filling!

Sounds delicious Patricia :)I love this kind of bread... we call it Halka in Polish and also in the Caribbean this type of bread is popular as Hard Dough Plait...I have never tried to make it myself yet... I'm not brave enough...

Pat, I really love this recipe... sweet, milky and tender! I know what you mean, it is difficult to get a good shot to a huge bread or food at our regular home-setting facilities. Even so, I still see your bread turn out superb!

Patricia, this looks and sounds like a completely lovely bread. I've been looking at braids and poppy seeds, and this really hit the spot. That last photo is really excellent! I wouldn't have thought of a bread made with sweetened condensed milk. Intriguing!

What a wonderful entry, Patricia! To keep on braiding I've just made a very similar poppy seed loaf..;-) Thanks for participating!

I've also made pao de leite condensado once (hopefully no spelling mistakes...) and there was only a slight sweetness to detect but the condensed milk made for a wonderful tender texture.http://www.flickr.com/photos/43661388@N00/2041880477/in/set-72157600415666718/

Sara, I love poppy seeds and don't use them as much as I'd like to. I'm glad you like the bread!

Peter, it looks good, doesn't it?

Mrs. Presley, thank you, darling!

Hey, sweetie! I know that you'll be making loads of delicious things when you're 100% OK again.

Evelin, thank you! You are right - there are many new people to meet, that's great!

Graeme, thank you, my friend.

Susan, go ahead and buy them, darling! :)

Bri, I want to see that challah of yours, I know it will be fantastic.

Kristen, you are so generous coming up with this idea, my dear friend.

Mark, I didn't like the second photo too much either. :Swe used to spread sweetened condensed milk over regular bread as kids... It was wonderful. And the best part was never having to care about calories! :)

Lydia, you definitely should. :)

Katia, tks for stopping by! I used to do that a lot, too, before all the extra pounds came along. :S

Pea, you are so sweet, my friend. Thank you for that.

KJ, it goes well on anything, you are so right!

Carrie, thank you!!

Syrie, tks, sweetie!

Michelle, it's good!

Hannah, I'm sure you'd come up with something wonderful.

Margot, really? That's great info - and I love the names.

Dayna, thank you!

Truffle, that's quite a compliment, thank you!!

Emiline, I love them too! Gotta start using them more in my cooking/baking.

Patricia, this is one of the most beautiful loaves of bread I've seen on the blogosphere and to think you were reluctant to post it! tsk! tsk! HA!HA!This bread looks so cottony soft that I just want to pull it apart right now and slather a lashing of salted butter on it... drizzle a little condensed milk, and let it say 'hello' to my tummy! I'm being silly today but this loaf is just calling to me, Patricia! I love the addition of the condensed milk in the recipe too!

Patricia this is positively gorgeous! Can't taste the milk but I'm sure it really lends a lot to the texture and tenderness of this as well as the browning! It's beautiful. I love baking bread and am trying to experiment with cutting recipes down so I don't end up with more than the two of us can eat in 2 days.

Condensed milk in bread? That must be heavenly! I need to try this! Btw it is still morning on my side of the world and lunch is no where near... but my stomach is grumbling like mad! I have to eat well before I look at your blog!

trying bread today 29 June, 2009...first impressions out of the mixer...very wet dough...took almost 4 extra cups of flour...the original order for 1 kg was not nearly enough...this looks to me like a typical steak house sweet yeast dough...i am cooking them in cast iron pans...and going to score cut them for rolls instead of braid...should be similar outcome to the braids though...i will update when out of the oven...btw...i am a professional chef...you will find no truer or better reviewer...!!!

I made the bread today... and don't know if I have enough room in the freezer!The bread is delicious, although I used regular milk, because I'm not too keen on sugar. And forgot about the salt... Will never do again.But next time I am definitely making it from half the ingredients, 'cause this amount is intimidating.

thisis now my favorite bread to make. I was searching for receipes when i got my new mixer and tried this out. I even eat the crust (which i never do)... it is amazeing toasted with a hint of butter. I also replaced a few cups of the flour with whole wheat flour and added some honey to the water, becuase the dough was so huge i took some sections and let them raise in a loaf pan and then braided the rest. My dad took most of the loaf and has been eating it for sandwhiches this week. He ususaly mutters about the anything i make that takes more time than meatloaf as pretentios,,, but even HE loved this and asked for more.